Tafseer of The Dawn · Al-Fajr · 89:25
So on that Day, none will punish [as severely] as His punishment,
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
His statement: فَيَوْمَئِذٍ لا يُعَذِّبُ عَذَابَهُ أَحَدٌ * وَلا يُوثِقُ وَثَاقَهُ أَحَدٌ ("On that Day none will punish as He punishes, and none will bind as He binds"). The reciters — the reciters of the regions — were in agreement in the recitation of this concerning the kasra of the dhāl in "yuʿadhdhibu" and the thāʾ in "yūthiqu," except for al-Kisāʾī; for he read it with the fatḥa of the dhāl and the thāʾ, relying in that upon a narration transmitted from the Messenger of Allah — Allah's blessing and peace be upon him — that he recited it thus — [but this narration is] weak in isnād (chain of transmission).
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Khārija, on the authority of Khālid al-Ḥadhdhāʾ, on the authority of Abū Qilāba, who said: there related to me the one who had the Prophet — Allah's blessing and peace be upon him — recite it: فَيَوْمَئِذٍ لا يُعَذِّبُ عَذَابَهُ أَحَدٌ .
The correct view concerning this, in our judgment, is that to which the reciters of the regions adhere, namely the kasra of the dhāl and the thāʾ, because of the consensus of the authoritative reciters upon it. When that is so, then the interpretation of the statement is: on that Day none will be punished with the punishment of Allah in the worldly life, and none will be bound on that Day as His binding in the worldly life. And thus too did those of the scholars of interpretation who recite it in this way explain it.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: فَيَوْمَئِذٍ لا يُعَذِّبُ عَذَابَهُ أَحَدٌ : and none will bind as the binding of Allah.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: فَيَوْمَئِذٍ لا يُعَذِّبُ عَذَابَهُ أَحَدٌ * وَلا يُوثِقُ وَثَاقَهُ أَحَدٌ . He said: Allah knew that in the worldly life there exists punishment and binding, so He said: on that Day none will punish as His punishment in the worldly life, and none will bind as His binding in the worldly life.
As for the one who read it with the fatḥa: he directed its interpretation toward: on that Day none will be punished in the worldly life as the punishment of Allah on that Day, and none will be bound in the worldly life as His binding on that Day. And some of the later [scholars] who read it thus, with the fatḥa, explained it as: on that Day none will be punished with the punishment of the unbeliever (kāfir), and none will be bound with the binding of the unbeliever. And he said: how is the kasra permissible, when on that Day there is no punisher other than Allah? But this is an error in interpretation, for the scholars of interpretation explained it contrary to that, in addition to the consensus of the authoritative reciters concerning reciting it according to the meaning which the interpretation of the scholars of interpretation has brought forth. And I do not think that anything led him to recite it thus except his straying from the correct path in interpretation.
